Meet Joe McKinney, BIS Hanoi’s University Counsellor helping students find their way

Meet Joe McKinney, University Guidance Counsellor at the British International School Hanoi. With years of experience in university admissions and a strong understanding of global education pathways, Joe works closely with students and families to support their journey from school to university. Through a comprehensive guidance programme and personalised support, he helps our students confidently navigate decisions about their future.

How does the school support students to make the right decisions for their future?

We have a dedicated professional university guidance department which I lead, I'm the university guidance counsellor. We also have a very strong sixth form team with an IB coordinator and we also have a number of different administrators who help us with that. We've also developed a specific curriculum called Ways of Learning, which looks at career development and students looking into their passions and interests and trying to find who they are so that we can look at that for the future.

We meet with students from Year 10 upwards, meeting multiple times as they get further through their IB. So in Year 12 and 13 we'll meet with them at least three times in their year and we help them with conversations, figure out where they want to go and then we start them on that application journey. We host different workshops with parents and the students looking at how to effectively communicate with each other and universities. We also look at different country destinations and what they offer and the different sorts of financial implications of that and then look at different career choices after graduating with their degree.

What is the power of the IB and the IGCSE qualifications? Where do students go on to study with those qualifications?

The IBDP is a very powerful qualification in combination with IGCSE, it puts students in a very great position for applying to university. I worked in admissions for over seven years in the UK and whenever we saw a student with the IB qualification in conjunction with IGCSE, we knew that we would get a great student. The IB qualification can take you anywhere. We've had students go to the UK, US, Australia, Canada, Korea and Vietnam.

What is the difference between A Levels and the IB?

The differences between A Levels and IB is that A Levels are for students that are very focused on a specific area of subjects that they are interested in, and the IB is more of a well-rounded qualification set upon different competencies, skills, and values. Every student is really interested and dedicated and focused to specific subjects, then A Levels are a great choice for them. If they're more interested in a general education with multiple different subjects, then the IB is a perfect choice.

How do BIS students benefit from a bilingual diploma?

Based on the research, we found that students learn best in their first language. The majority of our students' first language is not English, so the IB diploma benefits them very well. More than half of our graduates graduated with the bilingual IB diploma.

Our graduates go to some of the best universities in the world and given that half of our students graduated with the bilingual diploma, that is a testament to how strong it is.

Want to learn more from Joe and his insights on preparing for life after BIS Hanoi?

Watch the full interview video here.